Planar component with a mortar receiving coating or surface

ABSTRACT

A planar building element including: a core layer that is made of plastic foam and a surface or coating for receiving an adhesive mortar or adhesive substance on at least one of the flat faces of the building element, with at least one of the narrow edge faces of the building element, which serves as a contact edge face, having an edge configuration that is suitable for joining to an adjacent board having a compatible edge configuration, wherein, in the building element, at least one of the flat faces, in the region of the contact edge face, has at least one slope converging toward the outside, and in that both the portion of the flat face that is continuously joined to the slope and the continuously adjoining slope are provided with the surface or coating for receiving an adhesive mortar or adhesive substance.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority from German Application No. 10 2010 051 171.4 filed on Nov. 15, 2010.

BACKGROUND

The invention relates to a planar building element, comprising a core layer that is made of plastic foam and a surface or coating which receives an adhesive mortar or adhesive substance on at least one of the flat faces of the building element, wherein at least one of the narrow edge faces of the building element, which serves as a contact edge face, has an edge configuration that is suitable for joining an adjacent board having a compatible edge configuration.

Building elements of the aforementioned type comprising a core layer that is made of plastic foam are known, for example, as WEDI boards. The core layer is rigid XPS foam, which is provided on both sides with a mortar layer bearing additional reinforcement. Such building boards are cut at the edges, whereby a flat, blunt contact edge is obtained, which can be joined, butt to butt, to corresponding edges of other building boards. So as to produce a level, continuous surface area, some of the reinforcement must be removed together with the mortar in the butt region; thereafter, a layer made of a product that is referred to as joint filler, joint putty or joint mortar is applied in a planar manner in the butt region and a reinforcement strip is placed thereon. The joint filler, joint putty or joint mortar is used to attach tiles or other ceramic parts to the board combination or to create a suitable subsurface. The composition of such bonding mortar is established in corresponding test standards. The corresponding mortars are also used to bridge the butt region or attach ceramic elements.

In principle, such boards are also suitable, of course, for other mortar, putty or adhesive substance applications, the essential factor being the contact and load-bearing capacity, which must be empirically determined in each case. (see in this respect explanations in the article “Keramische AuBenwandbekleidungen: Der Haftverbund zwischen Keramik and Ansetzmörtel” [Ceramic Outside Wall Claddings: Adhesive Bond between Ceramics and Bonding Mortar] (S. Himburg, published by the Building Physics Institute of the TU Berlin, 2008).

A mechanical edge configuration can also be provided by a tongue-and-groove connection, or by other known joining types, as mentioned in dependent claims 15 and 16.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Planar building elements including a core layer that is made of plastic foam and a mortar layer bearing reinforcement are used to produce wall, floor or ceiling coverings. When producing such coverings, both a cross-board connection and a level, uniformly smooth surface should be produced. Additional reinforcement strips applied in the region of the joints establish the desired connection of the boards, but create a raised, overall uneven surface.

The object of the invention is to refine the building elements so as to allow flush reinforcement that extends over the surface areas and spans the joints, without having to remove a coating from the corresponding butt region of the planar building element, and without the reinforcement raising the smooth, planar surface.

This object is achieved by a building element of the type mentioned above in which at least one of the flat faces, in the region of the contact edge face, has at least one slope converging toward the outside, wherein both the portion of the flat face which is continuously joined to the slope and the continuously adjoining slope are provided with the surface or coating for receiving adhesive mortar or adhesive substance.

It should be noted that, insofar as position-defining terms such as “upper face” or “lower face” are used in the text, these refer to the arrangement according to FIGS. 1 and 2.

Given the special configuration of the planar building elements, a depression is created on the contact edge face when the building elements are joined, wherein this depression is formed by the two building elements, which are preferably joined in a laterally inverted manner, and is be filled with joint putty and joint mortar, and optionally with adhesive mortar and adhesive substance, and which, after appropriate leveling, results in a planar surface area as seen looking over the upper face of the building element.

Preferably only one of the large-surface-area faces, which in general is the upper face, of the building element is provided with a slope, while the opposing face remains planar.

At least two parallel, sloped contact edge faces are preferably provided in the case of rectangular building elements. It is also possible, however, to provide all four faces, for example in the case of a rectangular board, with sloped contact edge faces.

In an alternative embodiment, only one of the contact edge faces of the building element forms a slope, or two contact edge faces located at an angle of 90° with respect to each other form a slope and, the opposing face is flush with the remaining unsloped flat face. A strip, which is preferably made of reinforcement material, preferably protrudes from the unsloped face. This strip of the reinforcement mat can then be placed in the “half” slope depression depth of the adjoining building element and is embedded there in the bonding mortar. The latter is then adjusted to the height of the adjacent unsloped edge. The width of the protruding reinforcement strip preferably ranges between L/4 and L, with L being the width of the slope.

It is advantageous for the slope to end on a residual vertical edge that constitutes a portion of the thickness of the building element, yet is not covered by the coating receiving adhesive mortar or adhesive substance.

The slope angle β in the region of the greatest inclination ranges between approximately 1 and 10°; the height of the residual vertical edge preferably ranges between 25 and 99% of the total building element thickness.

The slope inclination can be generated by way of material removal and/or by pressing the core layer. It will be apparent from the pore structure at hand, for example, how the slope was obtained. Material removal can be achieved, for example, by milling, grinding, laser operation, and hot wire cutting.

The coating of the building element which receives the adhesive mortar or adhesive substance can also be made of a coating mortar, as is known from the WEDI board. However, other coatings are also conceivable, as previously described for building boards and building elements suitable for coating. The material that is applied to the core layer can be, for example, a planar supporting material comprising a nonwoven fabric, which is joined to the core layer by foaming or potting, and receives the adhesive mortar or adhesive substance. Films made of plastic material or paper can be used at least in some areas as the coating material.

Other coating agents are mentioned in the dependent claims or are known to those skilled in the art. The core layer can be provided with a planar supporting material, comprising a nonwoven fabric, which is joined, at least on the outside thereof, to the core layer by admixing, foaming or potting, as the material for receiving an adhesive mortar or adhesive substance. The coating for receiving an adhesive mortar or adhesive substance may comprise a film or a paper web.

As previously indicated, a plastering mortar or tile mortar can be used as the adhesive mortar or adhesive substance, in particular by selecting a thin bed mortar that has properties in accordance with DIN EN 12004.

The core layer is preferably composed of a rigid polyurethane foam, rigid EPS foam, or rigid XPS foam.

The invention also relates to a wall, ceiling or floor covering, comprising at least two building elements of the aforementioned type which are joined on at least two contact edge faces, at least one of which has a slope, wherein the depression formed by the two joined building elements is filled with suitable joint fillers, joint putties, plastering mortar or tile mortar, and preferably thin bed mortar that has properties in accordance with DIN EN 12004, so that a continuous planar surface area results, as seen looking over the upper face of the building element. The adhesive mortar or adhesive substance filling the depression can be reinforced, for example, with a textile structure that is embedded in the adhesive mortar or adhesive substance, for example a woven fabric or a nonwoven fabric web (16).

The mortar material filling the depression can additionally be reinforced with a woven or nonwoven fabric web. In addition or as an alternative, the filled depression can be covered by an armoring or reinforcing strip.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

One embodiment of the invention will be described in more detail based on the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of two board-shaped building elements according to the invention disposed next to each other;

FIG. 2 shows the building elements according to FIG. 1 in a state in which where these are joined at the edges;

FIG. 3 is a further embodiment of a sloped building element;

FIGS. 4 a-c show a side view and top view of examples of embodiments of the building elements comprising slopes;

FIG. 5 is a top view of an installation combination comprising building elements according to FIG. 4 c; and

FIG. 6 shows a cross-section of a wall covering comprising building elements sloped on two sides.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

For the building elements 1, 2 shown in FIG. 1, the edge regions are shown in a cross-sectional view. The building elements according to the embodiment shown are boards that, as seen looking from above, have a rectangular shape, for example in the dimensions 180 cm×80 cm or 50×50 cm. The thickness may range between 20 and 50 mm, however it can also be less, and while only dimensions that have been successfully applied in practice are provided here as exemplary dimensions, possible deviations from these may be significant.

The building elements are used in particular to produce a wall, ceiling or floor covering, to which another coating, for example a hard surface such as tiles or ceramic tiles can be applied in a known manner. The building elements 1, 2 are preferably also intended to form a thermally insulating and/or sound insulating layer.

The building elements 1, 2 comprise a core layer 3 that is made of rigid XPS foam, which has high compressive strength and yields good thermal insulation. The upper flat face 4 of the core layer 3 is coated with a cured mortar layer 5, which is reinforced with a nonwoven glass fiber fabric 6. This coating is a “coating for receiving an adhesive mortar or adhesive substance” according to the above wording, such as adhesive, tile mortar or thin bed mortar, as already known from building practice. The ceramic parts are bonded with high adhesive and coercive force, so that even highly compressed siliceous or polymeric board coatings can be installed.

It is also possible for the resulting depression 12 on two joined building elements to be leveled with adhesive mortar or adhesive substance, and for the resulting planar surface to bear a visible coat of paint or wallpaper, so that no further coating is required.

Other coatings can also be applied to core layers 3, for example woven fabrics or laid scrims that are saturated with polymers and that likewise result in a coating for receiving an adhesive mortar or adhesive substance.

A sectional view of the flat face 4 of the building element 1, which is provided with the mortar layer 5, is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the flat face comprises a blunt, smooth contact edge face 7.1, which can be suitably pushed together with the corresponding contact edge face 7.2 of element 2 without protrusion, as is apparent from FIG. 2.

The special characteristic of the contact edge faces 7.1 and 7.2 is that the surface of the flat face 4, in the region of the exposed contact edge, has a slope 8 that tapers downward toward the outside and has a width L. The opposing lower face 14 of the building element is planar, which is to say it has no slope.

Starting from a bending line 9, the slope 8 extends downward at an angle of inclination β of 1 to 10° until a slope depression depth of approximately 0.5 to 2.0 mm is reached. The upper face of the building element 1 then transitions again into a run-out surface area 19, which is in line with the parallel surface area 14 and ends at the contact edge face 7.1. The inclination of the slope can extend over a level or a curved surface area. It is also not excluded that the slope region takes up only a portion of the contact edge face, as seen over the upper face.

It is apparent from FIG. 1 that the narrow edge face of the building element is produced in the form of a contact edge face, which is suitable for joining an adjacent board having a compatible edge configuration, and a residual vertical edge 15 has a height of approximately 25 to 99% of the total building element height.

The slope 8 described can also be found on the contact edge face located parallel and opposite thereto, or in the form of a slope 8.2 in building element 2.

When two building elements 1 and 2 are pushed together at the contact edge faces 7.1, 7.2, as is apparent from FIG. 2, a vertical region is obtained in the form of a butt 11. A very narrow joint 10 remains, which is bridged by the adhesive mortar or adhesive substance. In addition, a depression 12 is formed, which has the width 2 L. The subsurface of the depression 12 is formed by the continuous coating of the two building elements 1, 2.

In the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 2, the depression 12 is filled with a thin bed adhesive 13, in which a nonwoven fabric mat 16 comprising glass fibers or polymer fibers such as PE or PP is embedded. Materials that have properties in accordance with DIN EN 12004, for example, are suitable as the thin bed adhesive. The surface of the building elements 1, 2 has not been altered in the region of the joint butt 11. The depression 12, which has been filled with thin bed adhesive and nonwoven fabric, or woven glass fabric strips, in a planar and joint-spanning manner, yields a smooth plane which is in line with the surface of the unsloped portion of the building element 1, 2.

Particularly suitable thin bed adhesives are those which have an greater content of synthetic resin dispersion, and notably acrylate dispersion, and thus produce good bonding. For this purpose, heat treated thin bed mortars having high adhesive pull strength are known.

The length of the slope is obtained geometrically from the angle of inclination of the slope and the depth of the depression 12 that is reached. Preferably values between 1 and 10° are selected for the slope angle β, wherein the resulting height of the residual vertical edge 15 ranges between 25 and 99% of the total building element thickness.

After the depression 12 has been filled in, a tile covering can be applied, for example, in the known manner.

So as to introduce the slope in the initially open core layer, the slope—which initially has a uniform thickness over the surface—is milled, as a corresponding slope structure, into the material of the core layer, or removed using another material removal method. However, it is also possible to employ a pressing operation here, or to combine removal and pressing with each other.

FIG. 3 shows a modified embodiment of the building element, which here is denoted by 1′, 2′. Here, it is not the respective two outer contact edges 17.1, 17.2 that are provided with a slope 8, but only one face. So as to facilitate a planar connection of the building elements 1′, 2′, the reinforcement mat 6′ embedded in the mortar layer 5 is not cut off at the slopeless contact edge face when producing the building elements 1′, 2′, but is left as a protruding strip 20. The strip 20 preferably has a width of L/4 to L, with L denoting the width of the slope region.

This embodiment also achieves the aforementioned object.

In FIGS. 4 a to 4 c, S denotes a side view and D denotes a top view of various slope shapes with respect to a board-shaped building element. According to FIG. 4 a, two opposing contact edge faces 7.1 and 7.2 are each provided with a slope, while in FIG. 4 b, in a rectangular building element, all four faces of the rectangle are sloped. In the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 4 c, the board in question is divided into two halves, which are sloped and not sloped, as seen looking over the board width. The unsloped contact edge face regions are provided with a projecting strip 20.

The latter exemplary embodiment described based on FIG. 4 c can also be seen in an exemplary joined assembly in FIG. 5. In the figure, the building elements 1, 1′ are connected and joined to each other in a planar manner, in part by means of the strip 20, and in part by the smoothed slope.

FIG. 6 shows an exemplary embodiment in which building elements 1″ that are sloped at the respective contact edge faces starting from the two flat faces (slopes 8, 8.2) are used as coverings for a wall 30. The resulting depressions 12 and 12.2 can be filled with leveling mortar that is water-vapor permeable, using appropriate smoothing or filling methods, for example, so that the joints 10 located in the region of the butts 11 create permeable zones for water vapor.

Such building elements (see FIG. 6) having two-sided slopes 8, 8.2 can also be used to introduce a hard mortar into the joints 10, in which dowels or other securing elements are retained particularly well.

Examples of various features/aspects/components/operations have been provided to facilitate understanding of the disclosed embodiments of the present invention. In addition, various preferences have been discussed to facilitate understanding of the disclosed embodiments of the present invention. It is to be understood that all examples and preferences disclosed herein are intended to be non-limiting.

Although selected embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described individually, it is to be understood that at least aspects of the described embodiments may be combined.

Although selected embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it is to be understood the present invention is not limited to the described embodiments. Instead, it is to be appreciated that changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the claims and the equivalents thereof. 

1. A planar building element (1, 2; 1′, 2′), comprising: a core layer (3) that is made of plastic foam and a surface or coating for receiving an adhesive mortar or adhesive substance on at least one of the flat faces of the building element (1, 2′; 1′, 2′), with at least one of the narrow edge faces of the building element, which serves as a contact edge face (7.1, 7.2; 17.1, 17.2), having an edge configuration that is suitable for joining to an adjacent board having a compatible edge configuration, wherein, in the building element (1, 2; 1′, 2′), at least one of the flat faces (4; 14), in the region of the contact edge face (7.1, 7.2; 17.1, 17.2), has at least one slope (8, 8.2) converging toward the outside, and in that both the portion of the flat face (4; 14) that is continuously joined to the slope (8, 8.2) and the continuously adjoining slope (8; 8.2) are provided with the surface or coating (5) for receiving an adhesive mortar or adhesive substance.
 2. The building element according to claim 1, wherein the lower flat face (14) of the building element (1, 2; 1′, 2′) is planar, while the opposing upper flat face (4) comprises the slope (8).
 3. The building element according to claim 1, wherein the building element (1, 2; 1′, 2′) comprises two parallel, sloped contact edge faces (7.1, 7.2).
 4. A building element according to claim 1, wherein the slope (8) ends in the core layer (3) on a residual vertical edge (15), which constitutes a portion of the thickness of the core layer (3) and is not covered by the coating for receiving an adhesive mortar or adhesive substance.
 5. A building element according to claim 1, wherein the residual vertical edge (15) has a chamfer or a rounded region.
 6. A building element according to claim 1, wherein the slope angle (13) ranges between 1 and 10°.
 7. A building element according to claim 1, wherein the height of the residual vertical side is between 25 and 99% of the total building element thickness.
 8. A building element according to claim 1, wherein the slope (8; 8.2) of the core layer (3) is obtained by material removal and/or compression molding.
 9. A building element according to claim 1, wherein the coating for receiving an adhesive mortar or adhesive substance comprises a coating mortar.
 10. The building element according to claim 9, wherein the coating mortar is reinforced with a textile structure, and in particular a woven glass fiber fabric, laid glass fiber scrim or non-woven fabric.
 11. The building element according to claim 9, wherein the coating mortar is provided with an admixture of fibers.
 12. A building element according to claim 1, wherein the core layer (3) is provided with a planar supporting material, comprising a nonwoven fabric (6), which is joined, at least on the outside thereof, to the core layer (3) by admixing, foaming or potting, as the material for receiving an adhesive mortar or adhesive substance.
 13. A building element according to claim 1, wherein the coating for receiving an adhesive mortar or adhesive substance comprises a film or a paper web.
 14. A building element according to claim 1, wherein the adhesive mortar or adhesive substance selected is a plastering mortar or tile mortar, in particular a thin bed mortar which has properties in accordance with DIN EN
 12004. 15. A building element according to claim 1, wherein the residual vertical edges of the building element are provided, on a parallel face, with a groove along the lateral face and on the opposing face with a tongue compatible therewith.
 16. A building element according to claim 1, wherein the residual vertical edges of the building element are designed as wedges or tapered grooves or as rabbet edges.
 17. A building element according to claim 1, wherein a slope (8.2) is designed on a contact edge face (17.1) of the building element (1′, 2′) and the opposing face (17.2) is planar with the remaining, unsloped flat face.
 18. The building element according to claim 14, wherein a strip (20), which is preferably made of reinforcement material, protrudes from the unsloped face (17.2).
 19. The building element according to claim 15, wherein the width of the protruding strip (20) is between L/4 and L, wherein L corresponds to the width of the slope (8.2).
 20. The building element according to claim 1, wherein the core layer (3) is made of rigid polyurethane foam, rigid EPS foam or rigid XPS foam.
 21. A wall, ceiling or floor covering, comprising: at least two building elements (1, 2; 1′, 2′) according to claim 1, which are joined on at least two contact edge faces (7.1, 7.2; 17.1, 17.2), at least one of which having a slope (8), wherein the depression (12) formed by the two joined building elements (1, 2; 1′, 2′) is filled with a joint filler, joint putty or joint mortar, or a plastering mortar or tile mortar, and in particular a thin bed mortar that has properties in accordance with DIN EN 12004, whereby a continuous planar surface is obtained, as seen looking over the upper face of the building elements (1, 2; 1′, 2′).
 22. The wall, ceiling or floor covering according to claim 21, wherein the joint filler, joint putty, adhesive mortar or adhesive substance filling the depression (12) is reinforced with a woven fabric web or non-woven fabric web (16) embedded in the joint filler, joint putty, adhesive mortar or adhesive substance.
 23. The wall, ceiling or floor covering according to claim 21, wherein the filled depression (12) is covered by a reinforcing or armoring strip.
 24. The wall, ceiling or floor covering according to claim 21, wherein the depression (12) created on two joined building elements is leveled with a joint filler, joint putty, adhesive mortar or adhesive substance and the resulting planar surface bears a visible coat of paint or wallpaper. 